OECD report claims 14% of jobs will be lost to automation

Fewer people are at risk of losing their jobs to automated systems than originally thought, according to a report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Up to 14% or 66 million jobs in the world’s 32 most developed economies are slated to become automated in the coming years, however, certain aspects of a particular job may remain the sole domain of humans based on the specifics of the situation, said the OECD’s Stefano Scarpetta.

Previous estimates by Oxford academics Carl Frey and Michael Osborne predicted that 50% of the world’s jobs could be in the hands of robots, the Financial Times reported.

Proponents of automated systems have struggled to design programmes that are capable of replicating the type of human features that are needed for social relationships, creativity, complex reasoning, and unphysical activity.

Western Europe has a smaller share of jobs at risk as a high proportion of the labour force has already been replaced by automated systems or transferred to more service-oriented jobs. Economies that have not invested fully in automation, including much of Southern Europe, will be the hardest hit as the bulk of their workforce in the agricultural, food preparation, mining, construction, and manufacturing sectors- the main industries of Europe’s Mediterranean littoral countries – is replaced by robotic systems.